Long Time No See

Sorry for the delay in returning to the blog. With all the new medical issues that popped up it made it very difficult to do much at all.


You just never know what side effects some meds can do to you...I guess the Vicadon is taking it's toll on my liver and my scalp! Yuck...I never had this much trouble with my scalp before, it either itches or (mostly) burns and now has this scaly crap on it that I have to scrub off. Time to contact a dermatologist now. sigh. Just what I need more medical bills. The liver? It's enlarged...sigh. 


Got an adorable animated Giraffe plush toy that plays music and it's neck goes up and down for Valentines day. I hope everyone had a good Valentines day.


The whole world is abuzz with the news of Whitney Houston's death. They want to fly the flags at half mast for her. Really? It's not right. The half mast should be reserved for hero's not drug addicts that relay a bad message to our nations youth. I liked her music, her sound and some of her movies...but she is not worthy of a half mast flag. The soldiers returning home from war get boo'd, harassed, and nagged about killing women and children. They fought to keep this country free! They deserve the half mast! 


Okay I'm done ranting...for now.

I finally got my new crutches. They are called "Smart Crutch" They are a bit odd looking, but very adjustable. Still cannot go up and down stairs on them. 

Mine are just the plain gray ones, it costs extra to get the color ones with the stickers on them...lol.


Was just web surfin this morning and found this site...

Collectible Android Figures


I thought they were very cute. They need Star Wars and Star Trek versions now. 


Got our taxes done...man I swear Ray makes it so stressful on himself every year. Surprised he isn't the one with kidney stones and stomach issues! We got it done and are getting a small refund back. Seems to get smaller every year. 


Not enough to get my teeth fixed...sigh. Why do docs charge so much! 350 bucks to pull one tooth! That's insane! Total cost for teeth extractions, new top dentures and bottom implants...$6,350.00. Yeah like I have that in my pocket! Why do I need all that done? The meds I have been on for the last 2 years have ruined my teeth, harmed my kidneys, and now my liver too. I need a miracle!


Spartacus Vengeance is finally airing on Starz channel. Lucy Lawless rocks! Loved her as Xena and now as Lucretia. I am hoping to find a way to go to the final convention for Xena Con next year in California. I probably won't go. There is no way I can raise enough for the convention tickets, the hotel, the meals, the transportation.  :(


Yeah I know my blog is all over the place this morning...I have been gone for two weeks or more...now trying to catch every one up on what's going on makes for a messy blog...lol.


Lets see what else is going on...a few family emergencies that scared the hell out of me, but those are private and everyone is okay now. 


Got my drivers license renewed, they messed it up again and forgot to put I wanted to register to vote...again...grrrr. 


Went and seen the movie "Red Tails" about the Tuskegee Airmen. Was a very good movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you should! The visuals alone are intense and well filmed. The story was well told. Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Leslie Odom Jr., Kevin Phillips, Method Man, Lee Tergesen, Daniele Ruah, David Oyelowo, Ne-Yo, Marcus T. Paulk, Andre Royo, all gave outstanding performances. There are a couple of short scenes with veteran actor Gerald McRaney.


Made homemade scones with chocolate chips, split pea soup (with chunks of salt ham) and home made bread both from scratch this week.....Julia Child's would be proud! :)

All three came out good, but next time I make bread going to split the dough into two bread pans instead of one...it came out tight. No I don't mean "tight" as in the stupid slang word, which is well just stupid. I mean the bread dough was too compact and compressed not enough air in it to spring back up when pushed down slightly. 


Well I guess that's about it for now. Time for me to get another cup of coffee and sit and relax for a bit. So see you next time for more coffee and conversation!

Julia Child, Julie Powell and Me

In the 80's I remember sitting in front of the TV watching Julia Child's cook on her TV show. Her sense of humor was great. Her food always looked so good. I took Home Economics in Junior High and High School because of her. 

When I found out there was a movie about someone who blogged about her I had to see it.

I finally watched Julia & Julie. Funny great movie. Was disappointed to learn that Julie Powell no longer does her blog site. I would loved to have read the whole thing from her experiences of learning to cook Julia's way. Was very disappointed to read that she also had an affair, but her and her husband worked it out. Very happy about that. But still.... was hard to picture her doing that after watching the cute little Ami portray her in the movie. I wish her the best of luck in what ever she does in life!

So after after watching the movie for a second time...a few days later I was browsing the cooking section when I happened to think, "I wonder if they have any Julia Child cookbooks!" After searching for about ten minutes, my husband wondered over and asked what I was looking for. I told him, he actually laughed at me, well not "at me, at me" he chuckled. He started to look as well and found a book almost right in front of me. Julia Child's How To Cook Cookbook, Hard bound and fairly thick. I couldn't wait to get it home and start pouring over it.

I love to cook, but I have a fairly small kitchen. I always seemed to be limited in my first marriage on really good kitchen supplies. So this time around I am blessed with a husband who indulges me when he can.

He showed up after work with a few new kitchen toys for me! I black ceramic holder for stainless steel kitchen utensils! A stainless steel food processor and a wooden roll cart with lift out shelf, drawer and cabinet! It took him and my son almost an hour to put it together. There are small bits of Styrofoam all over the living room. Glad I don't own a cat!

I had sent him a text requesting spices...I was trying one of the recipes in the cook book. He brought them home with the new kitchen toys. :)
 
The dinner came out wonderful! I was very surprised at myself at how wonderful it came out!

THE COOK BOOK

 The original price for that book was $50.00!

THE RECIPE

I was thrilled at how well it came out! (shameless plug for Half Price Books, where I bought the book)

KITCHEN CART

I already put the new food processor inside the cart :). As you can see by the pans drying on the stove Julia always seemed to use a lot of pans in her recipes so you can cook everything all at once.

THE FOOD PROCESSOR

I was so flustered trying to put that thing together! I figured it out though! (Ignore the piece of Styrofoam behind it...lol) (did you know spell check does not like the Styrofoam unless it is capitalized...ugh)

After putting that together and finishing up the pots and pans from dinner I was pretty much wiped out.

I use a chair when cooking so I don't hurt too much from my back problems. I do most of the prep work sitting at the kitchen table, getting up every 5 minutes or so so I don't get stiff. Tonight it sort of helped, because there was a lot of prep work, my son helped grind spices too.

I think I ruined my blender because I missed a footnote in her book about grinding your own spices. I forgot I had a small coffee grinder in the corner of the kitchen (probably why I forgot I had it, it's tucked away in a corner!) Anyway....I used my blender to grind CLOVES. Ugh, my plastic blender seems to be coated with a gritty substance that no matter how hard I scrub it won't come off. :( Off to wal-mart I go this weekend in search of a new blender. Sorry babe!

Well I guess I should head off to bed...it as after all after midnight.

See you next time for more Coffee and Conversation!